An incident that has happened to us in the last few months reminds me of what can happen when sin is looked at lightly, especially what some would consider “little sins.”

A few months ago, our church bought a van that was slightly used with only a few miles on it. When we picked it up, I noticed a small stain on the roof liner and brought it to the attention of the salesperson. The dealer immediately had a worker come out and take care of it, and I just glanced up at it and it looked clean.

When we got back to the church, we got a closer look at it and noticed that the material had been frayed; instead of rubbing it with a cloth, the worker had used a coarse brush. Since that time things have continually gotten worse to point I wish that I would have ignored that stain or cleaned it myself.

The dealership first tried to shave off the fray, then had someone order new material, which first was the wrong color, then not wide enough. Then when the dealership did get to finishing it, the person putting it in tore the seat with a knee, left more stains all over the liner — I imagine from dirty hands — and left several of the fasteners off.

Then on our first use, not a mile down the road, the air-conditioning plugs fell out of the roof. This has been going on for several months, and today, the dealership will pick up the van to try once again to put another new liner in. This all took place because of a small problem not being fixed in the right manner.

In our lives, we may think a small sin is insignificant, and so we ignore it or try to fix it ourselves. And then before we know it, things have gotten out of control.

Galatians 5:9 tells us, “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” In other words, sin has a way of growing, and we can easily end up in a place we never dreamed we could end up.

The moral to this story is that if there is a problem in your life, take care of it the right way, or it may grow into something much bigger. The right way is to confess it to the Lord, then allow God’s power to deliver you and give you freedom not to do it again.